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15 Comments

1. contain June 15, 2008 at 4:51 am

   and to be honest, the owner probably has no idea what inhabitat means.

   as shanghaining says, ‘trendy’ is english.

   but, any intentions for an inhabitat store?
2. contain June 15, 2008 at 4:49 am

   no eco friendly products to be found, mainly generic home furnishings/fake flowers, etc.

   shaanxi nan lu near huai hai lu, the block that used to house the shanghai flower market.

   shanghai and an entirely eco-friendly design store…don’t know if we’re just there yet…
3. amnesia June 4, 2008 at 3:33 am

   there is an inhabitat in Doha. It’s been opening for around 12 years now though.
4. Jill Fehrenbacher May 22, 2008 at 9:05 pm

   Hi Shanghaining-

   I’d love to see those links….

   What does the store carry? I’m only going to be suspicious if they carry eco-friendly homewares. If they do, that is a little close to home… We’ve been around since late 2004, and like I said before – Inhabitat is a made up word that I personally made up (and most people seem to not remember or confuse with ‘Inhabit’ which makes me think that this isn’t coincidence). Anyways, not really a big concern to me right now, just interesting…

   -Jill
5. shanghaining May 22, 2008 at 3:45 pm

   I just did a chinese character search for the store name and found out the following: they have 4 shops in Shanghai, the one in the picture is probably on shanxi nan road; the business was started in november of 2006 by a man from Taiwan. I can send you links to the chinese pages, Jill, if you’re interested.

   Most design- and fashion-oriented shops in Shanghai have an English name as well as a chinese name. They carry English names because it makes them look classier, and associates them with the higher standards of design found overseas, although nowadays there’s some pretty good homegrown designs being born in China as well.
6. Jill Fehrenbacher May 22, 2008 at 3:19 pm

   Hi K-

   First of all, I’m not saying that they stole the name…. I was just commenting that we got emailed this picture and were a bit taken aback. And it certainly could be coincidence. However, considering that ‘Inhabitat’ is a made up English word that I personally made up, it seems unusual that this would be picked for a shop in Shanghai (instead of Chinese word). But you never know… other people could have had the same idea – we’ve come across other Inhabitats in the US, so its possible there could be an Inhabitat in China. It doesn’t really matter very much anyway, its just funny, and worth commenting on..

   -Jill
   Publisher
   Inhabitat.com
7. Glassjoe May 22, 2008 at 2:43 pm

   Like everything else chinese people do…copy anything they can find. They probably paid an 8 year old girl 3cents to pain the sign with radioactive lead paint. The only good thing to come out of china was the spring roll….and it´s a probably a knockoff of a burrito.
8. k May 22, 2008 at 11:36 am

   why do the author of this article think they stole the name? couldn’t it be possible they it is just coincidence? there is a stereotype going on here and it is unfair.
9. supersoyboy May 21, 2008 at 11:30 pm

   I actually like their logo though. technically you could also turn your i into a vase…no one would mind
10. augapfel May 21, 2008 at 9:24 pm

    I’m also in Shanghai but haven’t seen this shop, I’d agree with ShanghaiBuzz that it’s almost certainly in downtown Puxi.

    So many copyrights and trademarks, patents and laws are violated here in China it’s rather ridiculous.
11. ShanghaiBuzz May 21, 2008 at 7:33 pm

    All the (legal) points as above.

    That said, I\’m in Shanghai but don\’t know of the store. Do you have the address? Looks… downtown Puxi.

    Ifn ya want. I could potentially visit & take pics – to satisfy your curiousity, not start legal action. That\’s all yours.

    Cheers
12. jimborocks May 21, 2008 at 2:44 pm

    Not to get all technical, but it is Trademark you are talking about, not copyright. In either case, since China is a member of the WTO, you should *technically* be able to try and enforce your trademark there, provided you felt the case for infringement was strong enough, and you had taken the necessary steps in the States to define your mark in the first place.
13. builder May 21, 2008 at 5:04 am

    first of all, have u registered ur copyright in china? does ur copyright cover asia? if not, so be cool.

    second, it’s different logo, different business. so, be cooler.

    third, come on you are not coca cola. not everyone on earth know you. even in our industry, you are also a freshman.
14. zyde May 21, 2008 at 12:51 am

    lol, it sells furnitures, gardening and flower design (not such about the real term)
    i wouldnt be surprised if they used the same font, good thing they didn’t .
15. hishaam May 21, 2008 at 12:49 am

    It was my store, I stole your name, and now I’m making millions! Muahaha!

    Just kidding.
    I don’t know if it was intentional, but InHabitat doesn’t sound like a very common name to me, so it might’ve been intentional.